I have just realized that my blog was yet again posts free for a very long time. I even forgot that I had a fictional story going on lol I’m sure that not many people have been having an unscratchible itch in the brain trying not to think of what had happened to Dorian. I might as well go back to finishing the story when I feel particularly inspired.

For starters, I’m not in Russia anymore and not in Las Vegas either. I’m residing now in a beautiful city of Paris. I must say that I’ve been dreaming of coming here for a long time. My first impression of the French capital is still engraved in my memory – BLOODY AWESOME! lol (I hope you weren’t expecting any romantic description because I’ve just ruined it). Paris is very special. It strikes me as being sophisticated, magical, enchanting, fascinating, hectic, shocking and somewhat even scary. It is the city where luxurious boutiques and overpriced cafés meet the foulness of piss and decomposing cigarette butts. Russia may sound scary for some foreigners, but never have I seen two men relieving themselves right next to the library entrance… only in Paris so far… To be honest, I’ve seen quite an impressive number of men doing number one in the broad daylight in the open space ( so NOT cool!!!) It’s very weird because there are a number of automatic toilets set up all over the city so things like that don’t happen.

On the negative side, there are also a lot of people who are going to try to steal your money. Pickpockets. Whether you’re in Louvre, looking at Mona Lisa, or taking a subway, or just waiting in line to buy a ticket – ALWAYS watch out for your purse.
When I went to Louvre to look at Mona Lisa, I was surprised to see how small the painting was compared to the two big posters « Beware of pickpockets » on each side of La Joconde! However, I assume that they are indeed necessary. While you’re standing there, mesmerized by Mona Lisa’s smile, unaware of the crowd around you, you may not notice that a dude who has just rubbed against your back is not just a fellow art-lover but a professional pickpocket.

While taking a subway I have noticed another strange thing… Some Whatever-day morning I’m taking a subway to go to work. I’m going down on the escalator and see a person with a strangely familiar face: a bearded man in his late fifties, wearing a read hat and having this sad look in his eyes… I’m thinking to myself that I’ve seen this man somewhere … but I can’t remember where… in a couple of days I realized that I’ve seen that man begging for money on the subway and pretending that he had a part of his leg amputated (a part from the knee down). I’ve already seen 3 people like this on the subway, crawling on the floor and begging for money… and at least for one of them I’m sure that he has both legs just fine!

Coming back to the magical Paris… Well, smelly subway, creepy people and pickpockets is not a good way to describe Paris. It IS a . beautiful city! The architecture is fascinating, the buildings are impressive and when you look at them, you cannot help but feel amazed and bewildered. Notre Dame de Paris is a true piece of art! There are not enough words to describe how impressed I was when I first saw it. Besides, Victor Hugo had already done it justice and kept it from being demolished (yay to that!).

You won’t believe it, but I ACTUALLY fainted!
I was out for about 10 seconds, that seemed like forever. It was a strange feeling that I’d never experienced before. I was in luck, since I had an excuse to leave that place and never come back again.
I said « Bye » to everybody and walked out of the building. It was bloody cold outside! I passed a gas station and saw the neon lights of the local bar. Well, needless to say, I decided to have a drink!

At that time, I had no clue that I had a minor heart problem that caused the stop of the blood flow for a moment. I walked into a bar and sat down right in the middle to have a chat with a bartender; having an occasional small talk is what I like the most in the US of A.
A shot of Jack Daniels gave me a warm feeling on the inside and a little sting in my mouth. There’s something about being along in a bar and drinking by yourself. I didn’t even feel sorry for being lonely and unwanted. Who cares anyways… as if you can be sure that people who are with you truly care for you. « Take care of number ONE », that’s their spirit. I’m pretty sure you all know who this number ONE is…
Ah, these little things in life that make it less miserable. To you, Jack Daniels!

-Now way! Look who the cat dragged in! Dorian Cleaver! What are you doing here?
– What does it look like I’m doing? Raising awareness for women’s rights in the Middle East!
– Don’t be so hostile! Can I join you for a drink?

For a moment there I was about to get up and leave, I wasn’t ready for my former college roommate to butt in right when I was feeling kind of happy and absorbed in my own thoughts… I actually hate when it happens. When you need somebody, they all pretend to have their own life, being busy with nonsense; but right there, when you’re having a moment of peace and, I’d say, don’t need anybody at all, there they show up, looking happy and supportive. Well, Guy, where have you been when I needed a person to talk to and was feeling down? Or, right, it wasn’t a good time for you to have company…

I had all those thoughts at once and muttered:

– Sure, have a sit. I’m very glad you came over! Nice to have company right now..
(I must admit, I don’t usually lie that much in such a short period of time)…

The other day I was on my way to the store, walking behind two approximately 8 year old boys who were chatting without being aware that I’m behind them I guess. Here’s a little dialog they had:

– So what are you gonna get for « Men’s day »?

– Men’s day? When is that? (now, I have to make a note, February 23rd is a Men’s day in Russia, since going to the army is mandatory for all men, women should give presents to all men on this special day, not only to their husbands, sons, and fathers, but co-workers and friends as well. It’s is not called « Men’s day » , but « the Day of the Protectors of the Motherland » to be exact).

– It’s coming soon, so what do you want to get?

– I want a d*ck, sex and porn!

….

Right as this moment, I was sorry to overhear a conversation like this… I dread a future of Russia with future men like this!

I assure, that I translated everything word-by-word… This is how kids talk now!

I couldn’t access my wordpress.com blog tonight, but I really needed to share this particular story.

Tonight I came up with an original fictional tale to help my students memorize the vocabulary that they needed to start speaking English. I’ve been an English teacher for the past 3 months and so far, I think that most of the students (ages 8 to 21) find it really difficult to complete boring exercises and memorize the vocabulary by learning words by heart. I’m trying to come up with a method that will help them learn the words without the tedious routines of repetition.

Sorry to say, my students are gonna be sort of lab rats (no offense!) in my experiment. Don’t judge me though, I still continue following the program of Longman Pearson Publishing books 😉

However, I’d like to get some comments on the story, it’s for the adults though, since they need this kind of vocabulary more. Teaching spoken English is a new challenge, though I want to think that I’ve mastered it myself, I need to pass on the knowledge to others. lol

All comments are greatly appreciated! Especially if you find any mistakes (God forbid!lol) Feel free to express yourself.

By the way, the story is fictional; I just want to try out this method and see if it is of any use.

I don’t feel like going over this story again in my head, but let me tell you about it anyways. Once I was talked into going to the Alcoholics Anonymous meeting, because my friend thought I was having a real problem staying soberday in and day out. I never suffered from being dependent on alcohol, to tell you the truth I was actually enjoying it! Needless to say, that the meeting took place one freezing evening in January, I didn’t fancy going there at first, but I had nothing better to do anyways, so I decided to give it a shot. Alrighty, so here it goes… I enter the room, take off my jacket and hang it on the hanger right next to the door. I know nothing about what is going to happen. I take a sit and start looking around. On the right, there’s an obese middle-aged guy with cool shades (sunglasses) on his Greek nose; breathing heavily, he sweats a lot and I can already feel the particular smell of a fat guy in distress. On the left, a skinny chick, in her early twenties. One would think “What the heck is she doing here?”, but we all have skeletons in our closets and I think this lady is gonna make hers be shown in a few! I’m a little worried actually, I might be wrong, but it’s getting really creepy. I can’t believe my friend could even make me do this… I just want to get out and never come back.. The time is up. The meeting is getting started…Here I go.. Ready or not.. My throat is dry, but I manage to mumble the following line: “Hi, my name is Dorian and I’m an alcoholic”..I almost faint (probably from the lack of the alcohol in my system tonight), but I hear the unanimous “HI Dorian!”… to be continued….